This study investigates phraseological complexity development in the writing of French learners of English as a Foreign Language from the Longitudinal Database of Learner English (LONGDALE). More particularly, it examines the effects of proficiency and time spent learning English on the phraseological sophistication of verb + object relations, which is measured with mutual information at three data collection points. Results of a mixed-effects model in which we control for potential effects of topic/prompt show that learner proficiency, as assessed by a standardized test, is a better predictor of phraseological complexity in each learner writing sample than the actual data collection point at which the essay was written, thus suggesting that the time dimension does not add anything to, or modify what we already know about, EFL learners’ use of statistical co-occurrences as represented in this longitudinal corpus.

Chapter 12 examines the effectiveness of corrective feedback as a tool in language teaching. The authors review different types of corrective feedback and key research findings, before presenting a study on the types of feedback used by an experienced teacher when interacting with students in communicative lessons.